In the United States, there are many police forces, federally, state, county and city. In New-York, it is the famous NYPD, New-York Police Department. In these cities, counties and states, the department that oversees the police within the police force is called the Office of Internal Affairs. In New York, it is very well supplied.
The NYPD is the largest police force in the United States with 52,000 people, including 35,000 sworn police officers. To watch them, there are more than 650 people. The New York Police Department is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
The police are first alerted by complaints filed by the population following a suspicious police action. Then, the Office of Internal Affairs monitors officers on a regular basis, whether they are in uniform or in civilian clothes, on duty or outside of their hours of duty.
It starts at the time of hiring with drug and alcohol testing at the time of hiring. This also continues randomly throughout the career of the police officer or following a denunciation or suspicion of the management. A positive drug or alcohol test is synonymous with dismissal for the police officer.
Beyond addictions, police officers are tested for their integrity to fight corruption. The Office of Internal Affairs, for example, will set up false businesses, with false victims, false aggressors. The police will send the suspect agents to the case and analyze their way of working. If the yellow line is crossed, the police officer will be sanctioned.
The Office of Internal Affairs can also be deployed in prisons to question certain detainees about police officers they have encountered.
Since the early 90s, it has been the policy of zero tolerance against crime in New York. Crime is also at its lowest for 25 years. Zero tolerance also against rogue police. The Office of Internal Affairs went so far as to issue fines for improperly parked police cars.
So police officers closely watched for a quarter of a century. Arbitrary arrests with immediate search have declined in New York. But that did not prevent a high profile blunder in 2014. A black father suffocated to death in a violent police arrest. The police officer responsible for the death has not been charged.
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